Wall Street’s overreacted to Fox, Disney, Warner Bros’ joint sports venture: EW Scripps CEO
NY Post
The owner of more than 60 local TV stations that saw its stock hammered after this week’s stunning news of a joint venture to create a sports bundle slammed Wall Street investors for overreacting.
EW Scripps CEO Adam Symson, who saw the company’s stock sink more than 27% after Fox, Disney and Warner Bros Discovery announced the standalone service Wednesday, played down the impact it will have on local affiliates.
“Affiliates are going to be compensated for being carried along,” Symson told CNBC.
“It’s not the efficient bundle Wall Street is making it out to be.”
Scripps owns 18 ABC stations, in markets such as Phoenix, Detroit, Cleveland and Tampa, and four Fox stations among its 66 outlets.
Symson told CNBC that he was given assurances by ABC parent Disney that content on the local channels will be included in the so-called skinny bundle.
